Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Clin Exp Allergy. 2020 Dec;50(12):1406-1414. doi: 10.1111/cea.13729. Epub 2020 Sep 21.
An association between alopecia areata (AA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) has been reported in previous studies. However, the temporality of this relationship remains unclear based on prior cross-sectional and case-control studies.
This study aimed to investigate the bidirectional association between AA and AD.
Participants were recruited from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. In analysis 1, we included 12 022 AA patients and 48 088 matched controls to assess the association between AA and AD risks. In analysis 2, 40 307 AD patients and 161 228 matched controls were included to assess the association between AD and AA risks. A Cox regression model was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Compared with controls, AA patients had a significantly increased risk of developing AD (aHR: 5.47; 95% CI: 4.76-6.28) after adjustment for potential confounders. Likewise, AD patients had a significantly increased risk of developing AA (aHR: 6.00; 95% CI: 5.04-7.14).
Our study demonstrated a bidirectional association between AA and AD, suggesting that these two diseases may share common pathogenic mechanisms. This finding has implications for follow-up and screening of AA patients for AD and vice versa.
先前的研究报告指出，斑秃（AA）和特应性皮炎（AD）之间存在关联。然而，基于先前的横断面和病例对照研究，这种关系的时间顺序尚不清楚。
本研究旨在探讨 AA 和 AD 之间的双向关联。
参与者从台湾全民健康保险研究数据库中招募。在分析 1 中，我们纳入了 12022 例 AA 患者和 48088 例匹配对照，以评估 AA 与 AD 风险之间的关联。在分析 2 中，纳入了 40307 例 AD 患者和 161228 例匹配对照，以评估 AD 与 AA 风险之间的关联。使用 Cox 回归模型计算调整后的危险比（aHR）和 95%置信区间（CI）。
与对照组相比，调整潜在混杂因素后，AA 患者发生 AD 的风险显著增加（aHR：5.47；95%CI：4.76-6.28）。同样，AD 患者发生 AA 的风险显著增加（aHR：6.00；95%CI：5.04-7.14）。
本研究表明 AA 和 AD 之间存在双向关联，提示这两种疾病可能具有共同的发病机制。这一发现对 AA 患者 AD 的随访和筛查以及反之亦然具有重要意义。
